Three's Company
Stream-of-consciousness post in 3, 2, 1...
People congratulate me for taking 3 children out of the house for playdates or errands, but it's not getting out of the house that's tough. That's just time-consuming. Spork and the Nugget are actually easier when we are out of the house. It's the coming home with tired, grouchy kiddos and a bag full of stuff that has to be washed/laundered/put away that's hard.
A peaceful Spork about town.
Home sweet home.
When having 2 babies is easier than having 1...
a. Eating. The babies are usually good eaters and efficient too. They've been raised on tandem feeds - 2 bites for her, 2 bites for him. They know if they miss their turn, the ready bird gets the worm so to speak. They know if they turn down a food item out of general malcontent, the other might get it.
b. Entertainment. They play/fight/discuss things amongst themselves. They have no choice but to coexist, so while they scrap with each other often, they generally get along well. Tater sneaks Spork her unwanted cereal, and in return he delivers toys to her. They keep each other occupied while I fold laundry or make dinner.
c. Built-in patience life lessons. Obviously, the babies like all humans would prefer instant gratification. It is a curse but also a gift that they always much share with each other. Even now, I can see the seedlings of patience and cooperation starting to grow. (And other times, they are trying to physically remove the other from the preferred chair at the baby table.)
************************
The babies are starting to gang up on me. Spork hates having his diaper changed, and he has abs of steel, so I usually pin him into a corner and change him standing up, quick as a flash. I think he's convinced his sister to try to climb me like a tree while he tries to squirm free from the corner.
*****************************
I'm holding my breath and knocking on wood, but I think we can finally declare it really and truly spring. I'm washing and packing away snowpants, our rain boots are right by the front door, and we are layering like crazy for chilly mornings and warm afternoons. When the sun shines, we can be found in our backyard all afternoon. The Nugget and I are sniffling and hopped up on Claritin and Zyrtec. Spork marvels at airplanes passing overhead, "Wook! Wow!" And Tater decides that the wilderness she found worrisome during her immobile days is now just new turf to be conquered and declared Taterville.
************************
The babies are starting to gang up on me. Spork hates having his diaper changed, and he has abs of steel, so I usually pin him into a corner and change him standing up, quick as a flash. I think he's convinced his sister to try to climb me like a tree while he tries to squirm free from the corner.
*****************************
I'm holding my breath and knocking on wood, but I think we can finally declare it really and truly spring. I'm washing and packing away snowpants, our rain boots are right by the front door, and we are layering like crazy for chilly mornings and warm afternoons. When the sun shines, we can be found in our backyard all afternoon. The Nugget and I are sniffling and hopped up on Claritin and Zyrtec. Spork marvels at airplanes passing overhead, "Wook! Wow!" And Tater decides that the wilderness she found worrisome during her immobile days is now just new turf to be conquered and declared Taterville.
Tater wearing my vintage gingham jacket handmade by Grammy several decades ago. Yes, that's my camera strap and a dog butt too. Not quitting my day job.
We've started committing ourselves to taking our little engineer/contractor to Home Depot for the free kids' workshop every month. It was basically that or continue to witness him destroy everything in the house for the sake of his burgeoning curiosity. Between this and watching How It's Made on Netflix (thanks for the tip, K!), our belongings seem to be safe for now.
And speaking of How It's Made, the Nugget keeps inviting random adults over to watch it with him: student teachers in his class, friends' parents, cashiers, servers, etc. I should probably prepare myself for a Pay it Forward type scenario when he's older and has generously invited a homeless person over for dinner...and How It's Made.
************************************
The beginning of life, according to the Nugget:
N: Did you know what happened before people were born? Well, before the earth was born? Oh, I mean after the earth was born but before people were born? Ok, first there was an astronaut in space, and she hatched a baby, and it was a girl. And the other astronaut in space hatched a baby, and it was a boy. Those were the first people, and they landed on earth.
M: Wow. But where did the astronauts come from?
N: The International Space Station.
We made the decision to leave the moms' group after nearly 5 years. It was just time - my commitments are piling up, the Nugget has basically aged-out, many of the membership and events are shifting to a city 20 minutes away (which I know is nothing and yet so far when you have to factor in throwing food in the crockpot on time, getting the babies down for naps, and picking up the Nugget from school), and while it's still fun to meet new people, it's not the core group of friends that was our community for years. Still, we're walking away with so many friendships and much to be thankful for, and we are wishing the group all the best. I thought it was fitting that our last event was the egg hunt. Babies were napping, so it was just the Nugget and me, the way we began. It was a perfect sunny day and possibly the only group egg hunt where wellies were not required.
N: Did you know what happened before people were born? Well, before the earth was born? Oh, I mean after the earth was born but before people were born? Ok, first there was an astronaut in space, and she hatched a baby, and it was a girl. And the other astronaut in space hatched a baby, and it was a boy. Those were the first people, and they landed on earth.
M: Wow. But where did the astronauts come from?
N: The International Space Station.
We made the decision to leave the moms' group after nearly 5 years. It was just time - my commitments are piling up, the Nugget has basically aged-out, many of the membership and events are shifting to a city 20 minutes away (which I know is nothing and yet so far when you have to factor in throwing food in the crockpot on time, getting the babies down for naps, and picking up the Nugget from school), and while it's still fun to meet new people, it's not the core group of friends that was our community for years. Still, we're walking away with so many friendships and much to be thankful for, and we are wishing the group all the best. I thought it was fitting that our last event was the egg hunt. Babies were napping, so it was just the Nugget and me, the way we began. It was a perfect sunny day and possibly the only group egg hunt where wellies were not required.
And now my stream of consciousness goes to chocolate, so it must be time to sign off and raid the Nugget's plentiful candy stash.
Comments
Post a Comment